Lhasa, the heart and soul of Tibet, abode of the Dalai Lamas, an object of devout pilgrimage, is still, a city of wonders. As the beautiful capital city of Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), Lhasa is situated in the South Central part of the region, on the North bank of the Kyichu River (Lhasa River) in a mountain-fringed valley. This ancient sprawling city, settled 1,300 years ago, covers 30,000 square kilometers (11,583 square miles), with a population of 400,000, of which 87 percent are Tibetans. The urban population is 180,000.

The Potala was the winter palace of Dalai Lama, It was originally built in the 7th century by King Songtsan Gampo and rebuilt to the present size by the 5th Dalai Lama in the 17th century. Situated atop a hill, it consists of 13 stories including some 1000rooms and is divided into the Red palaces(mainly for religious use) and the White palaces for govermental use).As a whole, however, the Potala is a com-prehensive work of Tibtan architecture, wood carving, painting, sculpture, etc.Barkhor

The golden-roofed Jokhang is 1300 years old and one of Tibet's holiest shrines. It was built to commemorate the marriage of the Tang Princess Wen Cheng to King Songtsan Gampo, and houses a pure gold statue of the Buddha Sakyamuni brought to Tibet by the princess. Here, too, pilgrims in their hundreds prostrate themselves in front of the temple entrance before continuing on their circuit. Follow the pilgrims through a labyinth of shrines, halls and galleries containing some of the finest and oldest treasures of Tibtan art. Take a torch if you want a closer look, and to avoid getting lost copy the nomad kids and hang onto the tresses of the pilgrim in front.

The Barkhor is essentially a pilgrim circuit which is followed clockwise round the periphery of the Jokhang. It is also a hive of market activity, an astounding jamboree,a Tibetan-style stock exchange. All round the circuit are shops, stalls, teahouses and hawkers. There is a wide variety of items to gladden a Tibetan heart-prayer flags, block prints of the holy scriptures, earrings, Tibetan boots, Nepalese biscuits, puffed rice, yak butter and incense.

It is a park formerly used as a bathing spot by the 7th Dalai Lama in mid-18th century and later expanded to be the summer palace for the Dalai Lama in the beginning and mid-20th century during the 14th Dalai Lama periods. The summer palace of the 14th Dalai Lama attracts most visiters by its well designed structure and surroundings comsed of green turves, colorful flowers, evergreen trees, bamboo and apple orchards.

The Drepung dates back to the early 15th century and lies about 7km west of Lhasa. In its time it was the largest of Tibet's monastic towns and, some maintain, the largest monastery in the world. Today, the total number of monks in residence here has dwindled from 7000 to around 400..

About 4km north of Lhasa,this monastery was founded in 1419 by a disciple of Tsong Khapa. About 300 monks are now in residence, well down from an original population of around 5000. Debating taks place from 3pm in a garden next to the central assembly hall(Jepa Duchen)in the centre of the monastery.